Protests against close to 100 new voter registrants from eight barangays in Bacolod City have been withdrawn, City Election Officer Kathrina Trinio-Caña said Friday, July 23.
Caña, who heads the Bacolod Election Registration Board, said most of the withdrawals apparently were made after it was established that they indeed reside in Bacolod barangays.
Opposition to 242 new voter registrants, including former Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez were up for hearing before the ERB at the start of the week.
Caña said at the rate the hearings have been going only very few are likely to be denied voter registration in Bacolod City.
She said the ERB hopefully will decide on all protests before the end of July.
She said withdrawn were the opposition to 72 out of 98 new registrants in Barangay Mansilingan, six in Barangay 36, and more in barangays 11, Alijis, Bata, Cabug, Sum-ag and Taculing.
She did not have the total number of withdrawn protests as of this writing.
The members of the ERB aside from Caña are Local Civil Registrar Hermilo Pa-oyon and Assistant Schools Division Superintendent Gladys Amelaine Gonzales.*